By Ben Winkley
LONDON--The future of the U.K.'s Grangemouth oil refinery hangs
in the balance, with shareholders due to meet later Tuesday after
the workers' union said two-thirds of its members had rejected the
company's plan for the plant.
The Unite labor union said 665 of the 1,400-strong workforce had
not signed up to operator Ineos' proposals to freeze pay and change
the pension plan. The company had set Monday evening as a deadline
for responses.
Ineos began shutting the plant, Scotland's only refinery and a
vital conduit for around 45% of total North Sea crude-oil output,
when Unite announced a 48-hour strike from Oct. 20. This was
subsequently called off after conciliation talks, but Ineos refused
to restart the facility unless it received a guarantee of no
further strikes. Swiss-based Ineos has previously said Grangemouth
was losing 10 million pounds ($16.0 million) a month, and it is in
talks with the Scottish and U.K. governments about grants.
Ineos said it will present the results of the workforce
consultation to its shareholders, which include PetroChina Co.
(601857.SH), later Tuesday and will convey the outcome of that
meeting to the workforce on Wednesday.
In a statement, Unite urged Ineos' management to resume talks,
describing the results of the consultation as "an overwhelming
rejection of the company's blackmail and threats."
The 210,000 barrels-a-day Grangemouth refinery provides most of
the fuel for Scotland and northern England. Heat from the refinery
and the neighboring petrochemicals plant powers BP PLC's (BP)
Kinneil oil terminal, which processes North Sea crude coming ashore
through the Forties Pipeline System.
Write to Ben Winkley at ben.winkley@wsj.com